Ideas
What's Really at Stake for America in Yemen's Conflict
As the Trump administration navigates the risks of escalation, there’s a real danger it will get the calculus wrong.
Ideas
In Lithuania, NATO Troops Set Up Near A Potentially Hostile Border
Just two years ago, it would have been nearly unthinkable for the Western alliance to set up a battalion here, some two hours' drive from Russia.
Ideas
Trump Blew It at His China Summit
The U.S. president’s performance last week suggested to his Chinese counterpart that he is all talk, and can be pushed around with subtlety and patience.
Ideas
How Will Trump Get Us From Tomahawks to the Peace Table?
Trump called for an end to Syrian bloodshed. Tillerson was unprepared in Moscow to say how. But all roads still lead through Geneva.
Ideas
Trump's Unlawful Attack in Syria
Trump launched an attack on Bashar al-Assad’s government without the legal authority to do so.
Ideas
In Syria, Russia Falls Victim to Its Own Success
Moscow’s rogue client has destroyed the country’s ability to present itself as an indispensable arbiter in the conflict.
Ideas
Seven Dubious Arguments for Not Fighting Assad
Intervention may not be the right choice. But we should at least be clear about what we are—and aren’t—debating.
Ideas
The Syria Strike Was International Security Theater
It was designed to look as if it would keep us safer, while actually doing nothing of the sort.
Ideas
Easy There, Blob. With Obama, We Faced A Different Syria
Four years ago, everything was different in Syria. I support these strikes, but two of our worries remain the same: escalation and loss of control.
Ideas
Seven Disturbing Implications of Trump's Syria Strike
The attack raises a series of questions about the president’s approach to America’s political processes and institutions.
Ideas
Counterpoint: Trump’s Syria Strike Was Unconstitutional and Unwise
The military intervention solved nothing, while bypassing Congress, betraying the president’s non-interventionist supporters, and highlighting his hypocrisy.
Ideas
The Obama Doctrine, R.I.P.
Under pressure to respond to Assad’s use of chemical weapons, Trump reached for the same playbook that his predecessor resisted opening.
Ideas
America Should Have Hit Assad Four Years Ago
When dealing with mass killing, deterrence is more effective than disarmament.
Ideas
‘It Was High Time’
The right move, if the wrong president, for Obama's internal critics who wanted air strikes in Syria for three years.
Threats
The Fight Against the Islamic State Just Got Harder
Initial thoughts on the Trump administration’s new front in the Syrian war.
Ideas
US Missile Defenses Need Better Sensors, and Soon
Gaps in coverage leave interceptors less-equipped to defeat the threats of tomorrow.
Ideas
The St. Petersburg Bombing Brings Russia Face-to-Face with Transnational Terror
An immigrant from Central Asia kills 14, and forces Moscow to rethink its counterterrorism strategies.
Ideas
How Should the US Respond to Assad's Chemical Attacks?
Military intervention—even for the best moral reasons—always has unpredictable consequences.
Ideas
Want to Plug Intel Leaks? Let Technology Find the Next Insider Threat
Lack of empathy? High narcissism? Self-absorbed? You could be the next Snowden.
Ideas